| A trick-taking avoidance game. | |
 | |
| Origin | Germany |
|---|---|
| Alternative names | Passadewitz, Bassarowitz, Passarowitz |
| Family | Trick-avoidance, point-trick |
| Players | 4 |
| Cards | 32 |
| Deck | French deck or German Skat pack |
| Play | Clockwise |
| Chance | Easy |
| Related games | |
| Hearts • Polignac | |
Bassadewitz is an old German card game for 4 players that is still played today. It is a member of the Hearts family of games.
The game is also called Passadewitz, Bassarowitz, Passarowitz, Passorowiss [1] or Bassarowiz. It is recorded as early as 1729 in a humorous poem, Das schöne Spiel Bassarowiz, which describes it as a "much vaunted game". [2] It is first recorded in the 1811 in Hammer's die deutschen Kartenspiele [3] and is still played as a family game in parts of German-speaking Europe. It is a member of the trick avoidance group of playing cards.
Dealer puts up a pool of twelve counters and deals eight cards each from a 32-card pack of French or German playing cards [4] ranking and counting as follows:
| Ranks and card-point values of cards | ||||||||
| German-suited cards | A/D | 10 | K | O | U | 9 | 8 | 7 |
| French-suited cards | A | 10 | K | Q | J | 9 | 8 | 7 |
| Value | 11 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | – | ||
Eldest hand leads to the first trick and the winner of each trick leads to the next. Suit must be followed if possible. The trick is taken by the highest card of the suit led. There are no trumps.
Whoever takes the fewest card points wins 5 counters, second fewest 4, third fewest 3. Ties are settled in favour of the eldest player, but a player taking no tricks beats one who merely takes no card points.
A player winning every trick is paid 4 counters each by the others and a player taking 100 or more in card points, but failing to win every trick, pays 4 each to the other players. In these cases, the pool remains intact and the same dealer deals again, as also if all four take the same number of card points.
The Ace may count 5 points instead of 11, and players adds 1 point per trick to their total of card points, which may be classified as the easiest form of playing the game
Doppelkopf, sometimes abbreviated to Doko, is a trick-taking card game for four players.
Elfern or Elfmandeln, is a very old, German and Austrian 6-card, no-trump, trick-and-draw game for two players using a 32-card, French-suited Piquet pack or German-suited Skat pack. The object is to win the majority of the 20 honours: the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten in a Piquet pack or the Ace, King, Ober, Unter and Ten in a Skat pack. Elfern is at least 250 years old and a possible ancestor to the Marriage family of card games, yet it is still played by German children.
Einwerfen or Zählspiel is a German 8-card point-trick game for four players in two teams of two and using a 32-card German-suited pack. Its closest relative is the popular Portuguese game Sueca. Perhaps the most basic and typical representative of the Ace-Ten card games, this game was first described as early as 1811, but may be considerably older.
Fünfzehnern is a simple, German, 8-card, no-trumps, point-trick card game for four individual players using a 32-card piquet pack. The game has a simplistic card-point schedule and unusual restrictions on leading to a trick.
Kontraspiel, also called Contra, is a German 5-card plain-trick game for four individual players using 24 cards. Eldest hand has the first right to accept or make trumps. The Unters of Acorns and Leaves are permanent highest trumps, the Wenzels. Kontraspiel is similar to the Scandinavian game Polskpas and is recorded as early as 1811.
Réunion, Reunion or Vereinigungsspiel is an historical German point-trick game for three players which, despite its French name, appears to have originated in the central Rhineland and lowland areas to the east. It is a 10-card game of the Ace-Ten family and uses a 32-card French-suited piquet pack or 32-card Skat pack. Players who cannot follow suit must trump. Otherwise the game can be described as a simplified version of Skat, but is also reminiscent of Euchre with its two permanent top trumps, the Right and Left Bowers.
German Solo or just Solo is a German 8-card plain-trick game for 4 individual players using a 32-card, German- or French-suited Skat pack. It is essentially a simplification of Quadrille, itself a 4-player adaptation of Ombre. As in Quadrille, players bid for the privilege of declaring trumps and deciding whether to play alone or with a partner. Along with Ombre, Tarock and Schafkopf, German Solo influenced the development of Skat. Parlett calls it a "neat little descendant of Quadrille" and "a pleasant introduction" to the Ombre family of games.
Tippen, also known as Dreiblatt, Dreikart, Drei Karten, Dreekort, Kleinpréférence or Labet, is an historical German 3-card, plain-trick game which was popular as a gambling game for three or more players. The Danish version of the game was known as Trekort and more elaborate Swedish variants include Knack and Köpknack. It appears to be related to the English game of Three-Card Loo. It was banned as a gambling game in some places.
Ramsch, formerly also called Mike in East Germany, is a card game based on the contract of the same name in the popular German card games, Skat and Schafkopf. However, thanks to its interesting mode of play it has since developed into an independent game in its own right which is only loosely based on Skat or Schafkopf. It should not be confused with the games of the Rams family – Ramsen and Ramscheln – that also go by the name Ramsch.
German Schafkopf is an old German, Ace-Ten card game that is still played regionally in variant form today. It is the forerunner of the popular modern games of Skat, Doppelkopf and Bavarian Schafkopf. It originated in Leipzig in the Electorate of Saxony. Today it is hardly ever played in its original form, but there are a number of important national and regional derivations.
Wendish Schafkopf, Wendisch or Wendsch is an old German card game for four players that is still played today. It uses a Schafkopf pack of German-suited cards or a Skat pack of French playing cards.
Brandeln is an historical card game for three or four players; in which the winning bidder plays alone against the rest. It is one of the earliest games to use the terms Bettel – a contract to lose every trick – and Mord - a contract to win every trick. One of several card games mastered by Mozart, Brandeln is still current in Austria and Germany today. It has been described as having a "civilized, refined and ingenious character" and "one of the most pleasant card games".
Binokel is a card game for two to eight players that originated in Switzerland as Binocle, but spread to the German state of Württemberg, where it is typically played with a Württemberg pattern pack. It is still popular in Württemberg, where it is usually played in groups of three or four as a family game rather than in the pubs. In three-hand games, each player competes for himself, while in four-hand games, known as Cross Binokel (Kreuzbinokel), two teams are formed with partners sitting opposite one another. The game was introduced to America by German immigrants in the first half of the 20th century, where it developed into the similar game of pinochle. Binocle was still played in Switzerland in 1994. In south Germany, the game is sometimes called by its Swabian name, Benoggl.
Quodlibet is a traditional card game and drinking game associated with central European student fraternities that is played with William Tell pattern cards and in which the dealer is known as the 'beer king'. It is a compendium, trick-taking game for 4 players using a 32-card pack of German-suited playing cards. The Bavarian game of Rumpel is descended from Quodlibet.
Mistigri, historically Pamphile, is an old, French, trick-taking card game for three or four players that has elements reminiscent of poker. It is a member of the Rams family of games and, although it is a gambling game, often played for small stakes, it is also suitable as a party game or as a family game with children from the age of 12 upwards.
Enflé, Rolling Stone, Farbenjagd or Schweller is an early nineteenth-century French trick-taking card game for three or more players that has been described as a "simple but maddening game" having "a lot of similarity to Rams and no less entertaining." It has also been called "one of the best children's games."
Letzter is a card game for 3 or 4 players in which the aim is not to win the last trick. It originated in Germany and the names mean "the last one". It should not be confused with Letzter Stich which is a much simpler, positive game in which the aim is to win the last trick.
Officers' Schafkopf is a German point-trick, card game for two players which is based on the rules of Schafkopf. The game is a good way to learn the trumps and suits for normal Schafkopf and to understand what cards one is allowed to play. It is similar in concept to Officers' Skat.
Silesian Lottery, also called Card Lottery (Kartenlotterie), Card Tombola (Kartentombola), Großes Los, Grüne Wiese or Bullermännchen, is a simple, German, game of chance and gambling card game, that is played with two packs of 32 Bavarian-pattern or French-suited playing cards.
Spitzeln is an historical German card game for three players and a variant of German Solo.
